Best Food For Freshwater Angelfish Reviewed 2023

The best food for freshwater angelfish fish will provide them with a varied, high protein diet to really be able to thrive.

It’s the key to not only to happy, healthy fish, but also faster growth.

Here’s what you need to know

Quick Overview For Best Angelfish Food

Last update on 2023-12-01 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Angelfish Diet in the Wild

There are several species sold under the title of “freshwater angelfish” in the aquarium trade. 

All are classified under the genus Pterophyllum, native to the waterways of the Amazon River Basin.

In their natural habitats, angelfish are technically omnivores, because they will sometimes consume -some plant material. But mostly, they hunt for prey like small crustaceans, insects, larvae and other meaty foods.

It’s important to recreate this high protein diet as much as possible in the aquarium in order for your angelfish to truly thrive. 

This is especially true if they are growing or if you are trying to trigger them to spawn.

Always Check the Label

I’ll be honest with you, there are some major fish food brands out there, like TetraMin, that use cheap ingredients and fillers in their foods. 

Ignore the pictures of happy, healthy fish on the front of the can and take a look at the ingredients list on the back.

I was shocked by how many major brand foods use crappy ingredients. I really recommend that you read the ingredients list of any food you’re considering buying and to make sure you’re getting a  high quality product. 

What Not to Buy

Generic Fish Meal

Low quality foods will often list “fish meal” as a major ingredient, sometimes as the sole source of protein.

But, what is fish meal? Is it good for fish?

Well, sort of… but not really. 

Generic fish meal is usually what’s left over from processing fish for human consumption. 

Processing plants cut the fillets off of fish in order to sell them for human consumption. Then the skin, scales, bones, guts and other gross stuff gets thrown together and ground up into a paste that’s used to make fish food.

Doesn’t that sound just…delicious?

The problem is that most of the good stuff, the meat and omega fatty acids, has been stripped out already. So, fish meal has some nutrients, but whole fish would be so much better.

Fillers and Grains

Things like wheat middlings, soybean meal, wheat gluten and/or rice as a main ingredient is generally a sign that food is of low quality.

Fish aren’t meant to eat grains, especially angelfish who need high protein. They just haven’t evolved to be able to digest grains. 

And anything a fish can’t digest well just gets pushed through as waste, helping to foul your water. 

Pro Tip: There is one exception to this discussion of grains in fish food. It is good to feed koi and goldfish wheat germ to get them ready to overwinter. But angelfish have vastly different nutritional needs.

What Makes a Fish Food High Quality?

Now that we’ve gone over what not to buy, let’s go over what you do want in fish food.

Whole Fish

Whole fish is the gold standard for fish food ingredients. When you see something like “whole salmon” or “ whole menhaden” as one of the first ingredients, you’re looking at high quality food. 

The fish are still ground to a paste, but since the whole fish is used, you get all the easily digestible protein from the meat as well as the fish oils that provide omega fatty acids.

Pro Tip: Things like whole shrimp or krill are also high quality ingredients that are very  nutritious to fish.

Spirulina

Spirulina is a blue-green algae (technically a cyanobacteria, just about everybody calls it an algae) that grows in both freshwater and saltwater.

It’s jam packed with vitamins, minerals and even protein, that are easy to digest.

Even though it’s not a meaty food, it’s a great additive to an angelfish diet because it provides: calcium, iron, potassium and other important nutrients. 

It’s also been shown to be color enhancing.

Pro Tip: Spirulina isn’t just for fish! It’s also available as a nutritional supplement for people. 

Don’t Feed Just One Thing

Providing your fish with a varied diet is really important to their overall health. 

Think about it this way, you don’t eat just broccoli all day, every day. Sure, broccoli is really good for you, but it can’t provide everything you need.

So you eat a wide variety of foods and get all the different nutrients you need from the various  components of your diet.

Fish are no different. Giving them lots of different things to eat helps them get all of the nutrients they need.

Best Angelfish Foods Reviewed

Omega One Cichlid Flakes

Main ingredients: Whole salmon, whole herring, black cod, halibut, whole shrimp

Description: Omega One is the best fish food company in the business, as far as I’m concerned. Not only do they provide high quality protein, but they also use a wide variety of protein sources.

This helps you to give your fish a varied diet without having to buy ten different foods. You could just get one or two other foods to supplement this one.

Angelfish will readily take to flake food since they are mostly surface feeding fish. 

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Northfin Krill Pro

Main ingredients: 85% Whole antarctic krill, wheat flour, kelp, spirulina

Description: This is a pelleted food, make sure to check that you order a pellet size appropriate for your fish. You can buy the best food in the world, but if the pellets are too big for your fish to eat, it’s not going to do them any good.

85% of this formula from Northfin is made of whole krill, so I totally forgive them that the next ingredient listed is wheat flour. 

Krill gives this food a very strong odor that drives fish absolutely wild, which means it shouldn’t be too difficult to get your angelfish switched over to this food. 

There’s only one protein source in this formula, so you’ll need to add on other foods in order to provide more variety.

The other thing about this food, it is a fast sinking pellet. Top feeding fish love to grab pellets like this as they go by (the motion simulates natural prey), but if they don’t see the food, it will likely just sink to the bottom and go uneaten.

Last update on 2023-12-01 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Pro Tip: When I feed sinking foods like this, I make sure that my fish have come forward to be fed and only drop a few pellets at a time so they have the opportunity to eat them before they reach the bottom.

Northfin Food Community Formula 1mm Pellets

Main ingredients: Whole antarctic krill meal, high omega-3 (dha) herring meal, whole sardine meal, wheat flour, kelp, spirulina

Description: Northfin Community formula is a more balanced food that contains several top notch protein sources, as well as super healthy kelp and spirulina. 

This is another sinking pellet, so you’ll need to be careful when you’re feeding it. 

You can’t just dump in a bunch and walk away. You’ve got to put in a few at a time to make sure they’re being eaten. 

Last update on 2023-12-01 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Fluval Bug Bites

Main ingredients: Dried black soldier fly larvae, salmon, concentrated fish protein, green peas

Description: Fluval Bug Bites are really awesome and I’ve had some great success with this food. My big Texas cichlid has gotten so fond of these that he will not eat any other kind of pellet.

The main ingredient is black soldier fly larvae(Hermetia illucens), a harmless insect that feeds on decomposing vegetable matter. The ground up larvae makes up 40% of this food.

Since soldier fly larvae have no exoskeletons, they are mostly made up of easy to digest protein. 

I’ve noticed explosive growth once I switched to this food, even a sickly rainbow shark I had took to this food and suddenly doubled in size.

Many fish, including angelfish, eat insects in their natural habitats. So making fish food out of insects makes perfect sense.

Additionally, they use food waste that would have ended up in the landfill to feed the soldier flies, making this a sustainable product. 

Last update on 2023-12-01 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Zoo Med Spirulina 20 Flakes

Main ingredients: Salmon fish meal, spirulina algae meal, soy flour, wheat flour

Description: Spirulina 20 is a great flake food that I use as a supplemental food for many of my fish.

The top two ingredients are salmon meal and spirulina, but I’m not that crazy about the fact that the next two are soy flour and wheat flour, which are probably used as binding agents.

But, this is a great addition that can help provide another facet to your fish’s balanced diet. 

The spirulina is rich in plant proteins, vitamins and minerals that can help improve both color and your angelfish’s overall health.

Last update on 2023-12-02 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Omega One Freeze Dried Bloodworms

Main ingredients: Bloodworms

Description: Bloodworms are the larvae of non-biting midge flies (Chironomidae sp. ).These are a great way to add a punch of protein to your angelfish’s diet. 

But, they should be an additive, not their staple diet.

You can also get frozen bloodworms, but frankly, they’re mostly water. With freeze dried, your fish are getting more concentrated nutrients.

It can take a bit to get your fish used to eating these, but I’ve always found that once they figure out what bloodworms are, they’ll gladly devour them.

One nice thing, they float for a very long time, giving fish ample opportunity to gobble them up.

Last update on 2023-12-01 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Hikari Freeze Dried Tubifex Worms

Main ingredients: Tubifex worms

Description: These worms (genus Tubifex) are commercially raised in huge numbers for fish food.

They are fairly tiny, about a ¼-½ inch (0.64-1.27 centimeters) long and are a light beige color. Since they’re so small, these are better suited to smaller angelfish.

When they’re processed for fish food, they’re pressed into cubes after being freeze dried. I usually tear off part of the cube and then rub it between my thumb and forefinger in the water.

These are a great thing to use if you want to try hand feeding your fish. Once they get the idea of what the worms are, they’ll often come grab them from your fingers as the cube starts to break up.

Last update on 2023-12-01 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Pro Tip: You should not feed your fish live tubifex worms, these are known to carry diseases that can infect fish, particularly whirling disease. The freeze drying process will easily kill pathogens, making the worms safe for your fish to eat.

Hikari Freeze Dried Spirulina Brine Shrimp

Main ingredients: Adult brine shrimp, spirulina

Description: Just like the tubifex worms, these brine shrimp (Artemia sp.) are compressed into cubes. They even have little bits of spirulina added in! 

I feed these by breaking off part of the cube and rubbing it between my thumb and forefinger in the water so it breaks apart, just like tubifex worms. 

Brine shrimp provide some really great protein, but you should be somewhat cautious offering this food. Brine shrimp can also act as a laxative for fish. So it’s OK for them to be something you feed several times a week, but you might not want to feed them every day. 

Last update on 2023-12-02 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Aquatic Foods Inc Blackworms with Plankton and Mysis

Main ingredients: California Blackworms, Plankton, Mysis Shrimp

Description: California blackworms are an annelid worm (Lumbriculus variegatus), from the same genus as the common earthworm. 

They make a great high protein fish food that’s easy to digest.

These freeze dried worms from Aquatic Foods Inc are mixed with plankton and mysis. The ingredients are pressed into cubes, making it easy to portion out a meal.

At 65% crude protein, this food would be a great addition to any angelfish diet.

My fish love blackworms. I think they’re pretty much the equivalent of fish candy.

Last update on 2023-12-01 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Conclusions 

I hope I’ve given you all the information you need to put together a nutritious diet for your angelfish. They are a stunning addition to your aquarium, but they have very specific dietary needs.

I just want to emphasize again that these fish require a varied, high protein diet to really be able to thrive. Providing this will lead not only to happy, healthy fish, but also faster growth.

And nothing is more stunning than fully grown angelfish cruising around the tank!

Last update on 2023-12-01 / Commissions Earned / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API